Jangan shiok sendiri

And this is what happens when you close your mind and refuse to look at the bigger picture. You are just one person with one vote. You may even be amongst four million like-minded people. But then 10 million people will be coming out to vote in the 13th General Election. And how many of these 10 million are following the TV news every night? And how many of these 10 million have been swayed by what they saw on TV?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

I asked you this question last week: are you guys and gals following the news on the mainstream media, in particular the TV news? Most likely the answer is ‘no’, and for obvious reasons -- because the mainstream media, in particular the TV stations, are government-owned/controlled. So you are boycotting the mainstream media plus you don’t trust what the mainstream media, in particular the news on TV, says.

Okay, I can understand that reason although not necessarily I agree with it. Basically, you are not interested in what ‘the enemy’ has to say. So you shut your eyes and ears to what you consider ‘government propaganda’.

I can see from the comments that you post here in Malaysia Today plus the comments in the other Blogs and news portals that you express your views in ‘total isolation’. You already have your own views and perception on what the situation is and you make comments based on this belief.

Again, I can understand this. This is the culture of most religionists. Followers of religions have been conditioned and indoctrinated to do this. Hence, if you are a follower of a religion, this is how you would do things. You would read and listen to things that you feel are the truth and you would close your eyes and ears to what you consider false or lies.

Malays, for example, are not encouraged to read literature or attend lectures on, say, Christianity. You would never find Malays attending Sunday school. In fact, if they do the Religious Department would probably arrest these Malays plus those Christians behind that Sunday school.

The Sunday school may even turn the Malays away and not allow them to join the class lest they run foul of the government and risk getting closed down. That is how sensitive the matter of Christians preaching to Muslims is in Malaysia (and most Muslim countries).

So, how do Malays get to know about Christianity? What the Malays know about Christianity is what the Muslim religious teachers tell them. Hence their understanding of Christianity is based on ‘Muslim propaganda’. The Muslim religious teachers tell them certain negative things about Christianity and this is their understanding of Christianity.

In other words, what most Malays know about Christianity is what other Muslims tell them, not what the Christians tell them. And most times what they have been told about Christianity is meant to run down Christianity and to give Christianity a negative image.

Let me put it another way. If, say, I hate the Jews and you ask me about the Jews, certainly what I tell you about the Jews will be very negative. But you will not travel to Israel to find out for yourself what the situation really is. Your source of information is based on what a Jew-hater has to tell you. Will not, therefore, your views on Jews be very negative?

So, you read only pro-Pakatan Rakyat websites and attend pro-Pakatan Rakyat functions. Hence your source of information is from Barisan Nasional-haters. You have only one source of information. You do not get to hear from the other side. And you believe that what you have been told is true and what the other side says, which you do not listen to anyway, is false.

And this reflects in the comments you post here in Malaysia Today and in the other (pro-Pakatan Rakyat) websites. You believe that what you believe is true and that the other side of the story is false. And, most damaging of all, you believe that what you believe is the same as what the majority of Malaysians also believe. Hence you are amongst the majority and not the minority.

Let me quote another example. Say a Muslim was to talk to you about Islam being the true religion, etc. You then ask that Muslim what evidence he or she can offer to prove this. As ‘evidence’, this Muslim will quote various verses from the Qur’an. The verses from the Qur’an are the evidence to support the argument that Islam is the true religion.

But is not the Qur’an the ‘product’ of Islam? So how can the Qur’an, the product of the religion, be that evidence? If the tree were poisonous, would not the fruit of the tree be equally poisonous?

The same would apply to a Christian who talks to you about Christianity. Jesus is the Son of God and the saviour. How does this Christian know this? He or she then quotes verses from the Bible as ‘evidence’ to support that argument.

Again, is not the Bible the ‘product’ of Christianity? So how can the Bible, the product of the religion, be that evidence? If the tree were poisonous, would not the fruit of the tree be equally poisonous?

Religionists do not appear to grasp this logic. Hence there is no logic in their argument and they end up arguing in circles. They are selling the concept of the authenticity of their religion. However, although they are ones doing the selling, they refuse to prove that what they say is true. Instead, they ask you to prove that what they say is false.

In short, you insist that God exists. But you do not have to prove that God exists. Instead, I have to prove that God does not exist. The onus is on me to prove that you are wrong and not on you to prove that you are right. But it is you, not me, that is doing the selling. So how come I need to do the proving (or disproving)?

Can you see how the mind of a religionist works? They are in a mode of self-deception. Then they accuse us of being deceived (in this case by the devil who has misled us). So how do you reason with such people? They are beyond reasoning. They have made their minds up and no amount of logic or reasoning is going to change their mind.

And these are the same people who have made their minds up that Pakatan Rakyat is going to win the coming general election and is going to form the next federal government. But what do they base this conclusion on? They base this conclusion on the fact that they believe this is so and hence if they believe this then the majority of other Malaysians would definitely also believe this.

No Christian would agree that he or she is following a false religion and is going to hell rather than to heaven. No Muslim would agree that he or she is following a false religion and is going to hell rather than to heaven.

But how can both the Muslim and Christian be right? One has to be right while the other has to be wrong. Or can both be wrong?

Yes, Barisan Nasional is confident that it is going to win the election. Pakatan Rakyat is also confident that it is going to win the election. And you, the followers of each of the respective coalitions, also believe what your party believes. But you can’t both be right. One of you has to be right while the other must be wrong. Both cannot win the election. One has to lose.

And this is what happens when you close your mind and refuse to look at the bigger picture. You are just one person with one vote. You may even be amongst four million like-minded people. But then 10 million people will be coming out to vote in the 13th General Election. And how many of these 10 million are following the TV news every night? And how many of these 10 million have been swayed by what they saw on TV?

Do you know? Do you even watch the TV news? The answer is probably ‘no’ to both questions. Aren’t you going to heaven while the other (competitor) is going to hell? That is what both Muslims and Christians believe. But both can’t be right.